A good lacrosse goalie needs courage, composure, communication skills and a lot more

1 / 6

Back to Gallery

Two rivals, Greenwich and Wilton, passed momentum back and forth across the lacrosse field Thursday night, and a one-goal game seemed preordained.

The last line of defense for Greenwich was senior goalie Dan Feeney. Opposite him, senior goalie Sam Somers tried to get Wilton's transition game going.

Both of them had to make huge, point-blank saves at one point or another. In a fast-moving, high-scoring game, any moment could turn into the turning point for the players in the most important position on the field.

"Focus and composure," Somers said, is crucial in goal, "just being able to stay 100 percent focused at all times."

A defender in lacrosse can focus on stopping the ball. An attackman has to create offense. A midfielder covers the whole field to help in both ends.

A top goalie may have to play a little bit like all three of them. Oh: And he has to stop a ball that may be coming at his bare arms or legs at around 100 mph.

It's a position that requires brains, brawn, athleticism, and maybe most of all, heart.

"He's got to be a leader. He's got to have very quick hands. He's got to be reliable," Fairfield University coach Andy Copelan said about what he looks for in recruiting a goalie.

"He just needs to be made of the right stuff. He needs to be mentally strong. We talk about D-back amnesia and concern himself with making the next play."

Not all talk

Over at Weston earlier that day, the score was 15-1, but Trojans goalie Alex Peyreigne was still playing as if the defending Class S champion was tied with Masuk.

"Top left!" he shouted, alerting any teammate who might have looked away that the ball remained property of the man up high and to the left of the goal. (With the ball in the pocket of the stick, that's not always obvious.)

The Panthers worked the ball around the perimeter. Peyreigne called instructions to his defensemen as Masuk maneuvered to evade them.

Communication, said most of the goalies and coaches we spoke to, is the most important part of a goalie's job aside from actually making saves.

"We typically want our goalie to be a player-coach," Smalkais said. "He needs to understand the defense, what we're doing, better than anyone else on the field."

Personality is important, too. Staples coach Paul McNulty said he saw that blossom in his goalie, J.B. Breig, when the senior took over this year from two-year starter Austin Waiter.

"You look to a goalie to be a team leader," McNulty said, "a vocal team leader beyond just telling the defense what to do: a leader in the huddle, in the locker room, even though he might not be the actual captain. (He needs) a take-charge personality."

Without that vocal leadership, Smalkais said, "he can be good as an individual, but he's not going to help the team's long-term success."

A team can do fine with two different styles in goal. New Canaan has split time so far between senior Jimmy Joe Granito and junior Tom Carey.

"Jimmy Joe is more of a grittier kid, a tough kid," Rams coach Alex Whitten said. "Tom's much more finesse."

In the end, though?

"They're both great at stopping the ball," Whitten said.

Heads up

Lacrosse goalies wear a chest protector under their jerseys. Otherwise, probably the biggest difference between their protective equipment and their teammates' is arm pads.

The goalies don't have to wear them.

"The funny thing is it's the goalies who advocate less padding," Staples' Breig said.

"For most of us, once you get over the initial fear that you might get hit, it clicks with you. I had a coach who made me lie down and look up at the sky, and he dropped balls on my mask. `Doesn't hurt, right?'"

Well, some shots do. Watch a goalie through a whole game and he'll usually take at least one shot that'll make you wince, even if he doesn't.

"You just get used to it. It's not that bad," Newtown's Brandon Body said. "You just walk it off."

Darien senior Dylan Torey learned quickly how to deal with the barrage.

"I had an older brother (Jason) who grew up playing lacrosse," Torey said with a laugh. "He was always cranking on me in the backyard."

Torey was a part-time goalie in elementary school.

"I needed to face the decision in seventh grade: In our out?" he said. "I was in."

He worked hard that summer and every summer since to be ready for his senior year, when he's the latest in a run of successful Darien goalies.

"What happens is you get a tradition of good goaltending, and that sets a standard for others to emulate," Blue Wave coach Jeff Brameier said. "You play under a guy, and when it's your turn, you're ready to step in."

The string of All-Americans goes back to the late 1990s. Brameier rattles off names like Mike and Scott Russell, Matt and Chris Madalon, Jameson Love, Andrew West. Then there's Jeb Hollingsworth, who backed up at Darien, then went on to collegiate success at Denver.

They're no small part of the reason that Darien is usually ranked among the nation's best.

"You have to have a good goalie to be a competitive team," McNulty said. "You can have great defensemen, but (the goalies) have to be able to stop those good shots and come up with big plays."

Break out

With Peyreigne directing traffic, Weston finally forced a Masuk pass out of bounds. Just in case, the goalie was in pursuit himself. "I got it," he told his teammates, scooping up the ball in the oversized pocket of his goalie stick, ready to lead the breakout at the sound of the whistle.

"I definitely think being athletic helps," Peyreigne said afterward. "It helps having seven guys on the clear instead of six."

Anchor yourself in the crease, and your team will suffer.

"(A goalie) initiates most of the offense," Smalkais said. "He needs to be able to handle the lacrosse stick as well as any attackman."

In fact, in eighth grade, Peyreigne used to hand in his goal stick for a short stick when his team had a man advantage and play attack.

It still comes down to making those saves, and in lacrosse, even the best will stop a little better than three out of five. In the Wilton-Greenwich game, Somers finished with 15 stops. Feeney had 10.

The Warriors won it 9-8 on Sean Carroll's goal with 2.7 seconds left. Off a great setup, there was little Feeney could do.

"You've just got to stay positive. We've been there before," Feeney said.

"You've got to erase every goal. If you think about the past, it'll mess with your mind. You've got to keep your mind clear."

Staff writer David Fierro contributed to this story. Reach Michael Fornabaio at mfornabaio@ctpost.com. Follow at twitter.com/fornabaioctp.

Want in?

A lot of the top lacrosse goalies in the region started at other positions. How they got to the crease:

"My older brother is Kyle, who plays at Bucknell, so I had all the stuff. (I started in) third grade." -- Dan Feeney, Greenwich

"No one else wanted to play it, so I volunteered (in fifth grade). Why not? ... I had a lot of trouble at first, but I had good coaches." -- Sam Somers, Wilton

"I was never the quickest middie. I hopped in. ... It wasn't bad. I didn't mind it. Ever since (fourth grade), I've been playing goal." -- J.B. Breig, Staples

"In fourth grade: My dad made me. He was the coach. (Did you enjoy it right away?) Uhhhh ..." -- Alex Peyreigne, Weston, who has adapted

"The team just needed someone (in seventh grade). My brother Chris used to play, so I had all the equipment. ... I felt comfortable in goal right away. It was kind of fun. You're always going to play the whole time. You command the defense." -- Brandon Body, Newtown